Rees-Zammit left NFL after 'wasting his talent'

Louis Rees-Zammit won 32 caps for Wales between 2020 and 2023

Louis Rees-Zammit returned to rugby union because he realised he was "wasting his talent" in the National Football League (NFL).

But he says he has no regrets quitting rugby, claiming he is better for experiencing the "brutal" world of American football alongside Super Bowl stars Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce.

The Wales and British and Irish Lions wing shocked his sport when, on the eve of the 2024 Six Nations, he announced his decision to try to make it in the NFL.

Having slowly begun to realise his American dream was not going to become a reality during 18 months of trying, the 24-year-old is back having signed a season-long deal at Bristol Bears.

Despite winning contracts with the Kansas City Chiefs and Jacksonville Jaguars, Rees-Zammit did not play a competitive NFL game.

"I just felt like I was kind of wasting my talent out there, to be honest with you," he said.

"I gave it my best shot but it's very difficult to get into the NFL if you haven't gone through the college system, you just don't get the same opportunities as those boys.

"It makes sense from a coach's point of view, because those boys have been playing that sport for so long and it's hard to coach someone up on the sport they've never played before.

"I was getting minimal reps and it just was something that I was fed up with when I was practising there."

Louis Rees-Zammit joined the Kansas City Chiefs in March 2024

'No regrets'

Far from seeing it as a failed experiment, Rees-Zammit says it was a valuable experience, adding: "Just to be involved in a locker room that was completely different to rugby, next to global figures like Mahomes and Kelce, I learned from everything they did day to day.

"But I'm real about it - it probably wasn't for me in the end.

"There's no regrets. I'm very happy that I made the decision because would I regret it if I never did it? That's the biggest regret.

"I've gone out, did it, played a year, and made a decision to come back and really express my game again.

"It was a gradual thing, but when I went back for year two, I kept thinking about what would happen if I came back to rugby."

A scramble for his signature

What happened was the inevitable. Even during his sabbatical, the free-scoring winger remained one of the sport's biggest names.

There was no shortage of offers, with Bristol's style of play and short distance to his Cardiff home obvious draws.

Rees-Zammit's short-term deal, he says, was the right move as he looks to show he has lost little of the skill or the speed he had before bulking up in the NFL.

But it has also prompted speculation over a move to the proposed breakaway rebel circuit R360 in a year's time.

The 32-cap international said he had only seen the media reports and is focused on regaining match fitness in time to start the new English Premiership season with Bristol against Leicester on 28 September - with a Wales return also in his sights - and then "see what opportunities arise".

But he did admit that "globally we want rugby to be as big as possible, and if we can play it on a global stage that's going to be huge".

Rees-Zammit is someone the game's organisers know they need. He has more Instagram followers than the Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) and his social media influencer girlfriend Drew Knotts will join him back in Cardiff.

That includes an out-of-sorts Wales, with the national side having played 18 Tests since he left and losing all bar one.

There was no consideration of a move to a Welsh region, but he has held talks with new Wales head coach Steve Tandy and his staff as he eyes an autumn international return.

But Rees-Zammit says performing for Bristol is a priority, adding he even missed tackling during his time on the offence of the Chiefs and the Jaguars.

He will not have played truly competitive sport in 20 months by the time the season starts, but said he has been reacquainting himself with a rugby ball over the past two months and did not feel "rusty".

"The skill isn't really the issue, it's just about being match fit," he said. "There's a lot more conditioning in rugby - in NFL it's more anaerobic fitness, being able to do repeated sprints, not so much long-distance stuff because the [time of the] ball in play here is very high."

As is his speed, claiming he still clocked 23mph despite putting on an extra 10kg.

He will also have to carry the weight of expectation as one of the game's true superstars returns with no regrets but plenty of eyes on his progress.